Makeup Bag Detox: 5 Reasons To Switch To A Natural Beauty Routine

So here’s the deal: I want those “Kylie Jenner lips” and will be tempted to buy whatever drugstore product promises it. But if you’re also on the path to becoming a conscious consumer, your makeup bag is going to need a detox!

The David Suzuki Foundation found that over 12,500 personal care products, including makeup & skincare products, contain 80% of the 12 most toxic chemicals (commonly known as “the dirty dozen”). Not only are the dirty dozen dangerous for your health but they also have detrimental effects on the environment and are harmful to fish and other wildlife.

If reading this has you consoling your favourite concealer, and re-assuring it that you would never leave, I’m sorry to tell you that it might just have to happen. Here are 5 reasons you should consider breaking up with your conventional cosmetic products and falling in love with a natural beauty routine:

1. You Need Some Breathing Room

Most conventional cosmetics are loaded with silicones and fragrances that can irritate the skin. By switching to green beauty products you will give your skin room to breathe and avoid irritation often caused by fragrance allergies; certain chemicals and fillers in makeup can cause redness, irritation and breakouts. No thank you.

2. You’re Not a Sugar Mama

Switching to natural products can save you tons of money because most products can pull double duty, and some of them can already be found in your cupboards! Need a natural toner? Try apple cider vinegar. Moisturizing face mask? Grab the honey. Deep conditioning hair treatment? Hey there, coconut oil.

3. You Just Don’t See a Future Together

The ingredients in your products should be recognizable words (think avocado oil, instead of diazolidinyl urea). Those delicious guacamole inspired ingredients will be soaked right up by your pores and absorbed into your skin.

This is a long term solution to common issues like acne and wrinkles, because rather than trying to cover up or reverse the problem, your skin will be absorbing the ingredients it needs to prevent them. Choose products made with healthy ingredients that your skin will love. Look for things like rosehip oil instead of mineral oil and green tea extract instead of siloxanes.

4. They’re Smothering You

Comedogenic oils found in conventional products are pore-clogging ingredients often found in our makeup bags, and are the #1 cause of acne. Comedo is the scientific term for an acne impaction made up of dead skin cells and sebum in your skin (ew). If you have several of these lesions, they’re called comedones. Detox your makeup bag of anything comedogenic and stop smothering your pores. Here’s a list of comedogenic ingredients. Watch out, coconut oil is one of them! Slather that beauty all over your hair & body, but keep it away from your face.

5. You Just Can’t Trust Them

I mentioned the dirty dozen earlier, so now let’s take a closer look at two of these ingredients that we want to avoid.

Parabens: an ingredient used in most conventional beauty products as a preservative. Unfortunately, parabens synthetically mimic your body’s hormones and can disrupt your endocrine system. Natural products use ingredients like grapefruit seed extract as a preservative that will not affect your endocrine system.

Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives: yep, these are just as scary as they sound. They slowly release small amounts of formaldehyde, which has been proven to cause cancer.
Avoid DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, methenamine and quarternium-15 at all costs.

Your Guide to Seeing Someone Else

Don’t ditch the whole make up bag at once.

You might suffer from separation anxiety, and it can take some time for your skin to get used to natural products. As your products run out start switching them out with natural products.

Less Is More

Environmental Working Group found the average woman is exposed to 126 toxic chemicals from personal care products before they even leave the house! Start to simplify your routine, and once your skin is glowing from using all those natural products you won’t want to hide it anyway.

Eligible Bachelors:

Not sure where to start? Here are a few of my favourite makeup brands:

Great post, I love how you mentioned slowly replacing new natural products before totally ditching the old ones, it makes it easier for me to do this. I just tried a coconut oil mask yesterday and my hair has NEVER been so soft! I got the whole jar for $6.00 at Ross the other day so I saved a CRAP ton of money and my hair is FABULOUS! Can’t wait to try these other tips! xo C